PUNKCAKE Delicieux, the studio behind Shotgun King, created Hot Wax, a Tetris reimagining born from a 2024 Ludum Dare game jam. The puzzle game swaps the classic mechanic of clearing horizontal lines for a fire-based destruction system. Players place tetromino-shaped wax blocks in a dungeon setting and use small fireballs to burn them from top down. Blocks tumble when separated, similar to Mr. Driller, and the ember extinguishes if covered by wax.
Hot Wax demands different strategic thinking than traditional Tetris. Rather than neatly stacking blocks for efficiency, players must create safe paths for the ember to burn as much wax as possible. The standard ritual mode lets the flame progress one block per turn, with power-ups available. Other modes feature fire that scorches through multiple blocks at once, providing immediate visual feedback on game logic.
PUNKCAKE approaches Tetris the way Shotgun King approached chess, according to the report. The studio is also developing If Letters Had Pants, Would They Wear Them Like This?, applying similar genre-twisting logic to word jumbles.